


Lookalike

by BrightBlueInk



Category: Chrno Crusade
Genre: Canon - Manga, Canon Universe, Character Study, Dark, Demons, Drama, Family, Gen, One Shot, Probably won't make sense if you haven't read the manga, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 04:58:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8876917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrightBlueInk/pseuds/BrightBlueInk
Summary: As a child, Aion was tired of being mistaken for Chrono all the time, so he cut his hair. Three moments where the pair find their appearances shifting as they struggle with their individuality and their choices.





	

Aion expected Chrono to be surprised when he first cut his hair. He’d decided to do it from a mix of boredom, mischievousness, and a desire for individuality, so one day after their classes he “borrowed” a sword from the practice grounds and sliced the hair off at his shoulder, leaving a rough, uneven cut that he thought made him look older.

When he swept into their shared room with a grin on his face to show Chrono, his friend’s eyes widened before starting to water up with tears.

“What are you doing that for?” Aion asked in confusion.

“I-I don’t know. You look so…different.”

“I know, that’s why I did it.” Aion frowned. Besides being the only two children of the smallest known generation, he and Chrono were known for how remarkably similar they were in appearance. The only easy way to differentiate them was the shape of their horns and the positioning of the eye spots on their foreheads, so they were often mistaken for one another, particularly by people that didn’t know them well. The constant confusion was starting to drive Aion crazy, since the two of them were so different in personality. He wanted to be seen as his own person. He thought Chrono felt the same way and would be glad that his hairstyle was so different, but as his sibling started to cry he realized he’d made the wrong assumption.

“Come on, aren’t you tired of nobody knowing who you are?” Aion said, walking over to pat Chrono on the head.

His shyer sibling coughed, rubbing at his eyes. “I guess, but—“

“So this way nobody will confuse the two of us. That’s a good thing, right?”

“I just liked feeling like…” Chrono got stopped by a sob that choked his throat. “I liked feeling like we were a pair.”

“Oh, Chrono.” Aion sighed and gave his brother a hug. “We’re still a pair. It’s nothing to be upset about.”

“But I—“

“Ugh, come on! You’re going to be a soldier. You can’t cry over every little thing!”

Aion had meant for that to be sort of encouraging, but it only made Chrono cry harder. It took nearly an hour before Aion could get him to calm down. It almost made him feel guilty about cutting his hair, but he liked it too much to regret it, and Chrono eventually got used to it. However, people still had a habit of getting them confused.

**********************

Aion and Chrono hadn’t had much time to really talk after the tuning ceremony. They had both been grabbed by Pandaemonium’s Swords and taken to separate cells right after, branded as illegitimate children and dangers to society. His time in captivity was spent coordinating with his friends as best as he could, coming up with a plan to escape before they were all branded as defective or worse. Once his plans were set in motion, everything was a flurry of violence and chaos. Most of the words he’d exchanged to Chrono after he’d convinced him to follow him had been terse orders.

It was only now, a day after Eden’s crash landing and Chrono’s fierce battle against the Pursuers, that they had a moment to actually speak to one another. The handful of “Sinners” that survived had spent the last day trying to repair enough of Eden to make it functional enough that they could at least live while they licked their wounds and tried to figure out what to do next. There was a small human town nearby that they would eventually have to get the courage to venture out to if they were going to get the supplies they needed, but for now their exhaustion was starting to catch up to them, so the demons had dispersed around the wreckage to find a way to rest.

Aion wandered aimlessly around the edge of the wreckage until he stumbled across Chrono. He was perched on a bent metal beam sticking off of the side of Eden that was tilted up into the air, his legs dangling down beneath him.

At first, Aion had planned on leaving him alone. It wasn’t entirely unintentional on his part that they hadn’t had a chance to talk since the Day of Tuning. He was still reeling from all he had learned about himself and Chrono, and he knew Chrono would have questions. Aion had already decided he couldn’t tell Chrono what he knew. His soft-hearted brother—the true meaning of the word “brother” was still working its way into his brain—His soft-hearted _brother_ took everything hard. He wouldn’t allow Chrono to break.

What drew him to stay was what he saw in Chrono’s eyes. Or, rather, what he didn’t see. As they got older Chrono had adapted to the demands of being part of the soldier caste by swallowing his emotions, but as he did he grew even quieter than before. Aion had gotten used to reading Chrono’s feelings by the look in eyes.

When he looked at Chrono’s eyes he’d expected to see anguish, or at least a reflection of how tired he was. Instead, his eyes looked blank, devoid of expression. He was staring at a rock formation at the base of the cliff they’d landed nearby without seeming to actually see it. His arms rested limply on his knees. His skin was still stained with dried blood. His hair was so thick with it that it was matted together into clumps. If it wasn’t for the soft rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, he would’ve looked like a body that had been left there during the battle.

As much as Aion wanted to rest himself, he couldn’t leave Chrono looking like this. He sighed to himself as he stretched out his wings and flew up into the air to stand on the rail next to him.

“Chrono.”

Chrono didn’t answer, keeping his eyes staring ahead.

“Chrono?”

Still no response. Aion frowned and reached out a hand to shake his shoulder.

As soon as his hand touched him Chrono’s expression suddenly changed. He bared his teeth as he jumped to his feet, his claws ready to grab and tear at whoever was next to him. For a moment, he looked the same as he had during his battle, beautiful and feral and terrifying, and Aion thought he might have to fight him off.

But it was only for a moment. For the first time since Aion had found him, his eyes focused and he realized who was in front of him. He looked shocked and took a step back, almost falling off his perch before his wings came out to correct his balance. “Aion! Don’t sneak up on me like that, I could’ve—I…”

Aion scoffed. “I didn’t sneak up on you. I said your name.”

Chrono swallowed. “…Sorry. I didn’t hear.”

“Clearly.”

They stood in silence for a moment, Chrono with his head turned away, before Aion spoke again.

“You look terrible. Have you slept?”

“Have _you?_ ”

“I’m our leader, so I can bare it. Besides, after how you ensured our escape I’d say you’ve earned the rest.”

Chrono paused, then shook his head. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Killing 100 pursuers is not what I would call ‘nothing.’”

Chrono snapped his head back to face Aion, and his eyes flashed with more emotion than Aion had seen him show yet. Something like anger, but for what, Aion didn’t know. “Not. Now.”

“Fine, fine. You’re so bad at accepting a compliment.”

Chrono dipped his head down. Aion couldn’t help but consider his behavior strange. It could just be because of how tired he was…but something still seemed off.

While Aion was studying him, Chrono titled his head back up and looked at Aion. He stared at him for a moment, then reached out and gently took some of Aion’s hair in his hand, studying it as it passed through his fingers. “…What happened, Aion?”

Aion felt like he’d been punched in his stomach. There it was, the question he’d been dreading since the day it happened. He stepped back, out of Chrono’s reach, and shrugged, forcing out a laugh. “I thought it was time for a change!”

“Aion, you know that’s not what I—“

“Are you upset that I look different again now that you finally have shorter hair? This time I’m sure nobody will confuse us!”

“Aion!” For a moment, Aion got a glimpse of the child Chrono had been. He balled his hands into fists and his eyes shined with tears. But then it was gone, his carefully trained restraint kicking in and his face contorting into something that could pass as a neutral expression. “Fine. You don’t want to talk about it. I get it.”

Something in Aion bristled that Chrono was reading him so well, particularly since Chrono was being so difficult to understand. He rolled his eyes. “We’ll have time to talk later. Right now what you need is to go take a bath in the river and then find somewhere to sleep. Shader can help you find where if you need to, she’s in charge of shelter.”

“I can’t—“

“That’s an _order,_ Chrono.”

Chrono made his frustration clear with a glare, but turned and stepped off of the beam, gliding to the ground with his wings. Aion was ready to let him go, but thought better of it and called out before Chrono could walk away. “Wait.”

“I thought you ordered me to go?” Chrono said wearily over his shoulder.

“One more thing.” Aion flew down to stand in front of Chrono. “You know how Pandaemonium’s guards are called her Swords?”

“Of course…”

Aion reached out to gently grasp Chrono’s chin. “I need you to be my sword. That’s why you need to take care of yourself and rest. I can’t use a sword that’s been overused to the point of dullness. You need to be sharpened and maintained. Understand?”

Chrono looked him straight in the eyes, and they shared a moment of silent communication. Chrono’s eyes were still frustrated, but Aion kept his gaze steady, almost welcoming him to fight the order, if that’s what he wanted.

Then Chrono took a deep breath. “Yes. I understand. Thank you, Aion.”

“No, thank you, brother.” Aion leaned forward and kissed his forehead. Some of the dried blood came off onto his lips and he absentmindedly licked it off, the coppery taste resting on his tongue. “Thank you for fighting for me.”

*********************

Chrono withdrew his blade from Aion’s chest and Aion dropped to the ground, coughing up blood. He tried twice to get back up onto his feet but both times stumbled back to Pandaemonium's metal floor. This would normally be a wound that was nothing to a demon like him, but without his horns to heal it, it was sapping away at the last of his strength.

He remembered when he had stabbed Chrono through the heart after his fight at San Francisco. At the time he’d been disappointed in Chrono’s weakness afterwards, compounded only by his stubbornness to use that disaster of a contractor to heal. Now that he had the perspective of being without his horns, he had to admit that he might have overdone it a little. _Chrono has the right to be a little angry, I suppose,_ he thought to himself.

His thoughts were interrupted by an arm wrapping around his shoulders. He leaned back into it and watched as a gnarled, distorted blade painfully warped back into a clawed hand. “You should stop…doing that so much. It’ll only encourage the legion to corrode faster.”

“You idiot.” Chrono looked down at him as he wrapped his other arm around Aion to hold him up, his teeth grinding together. “You stubborn bastard! What does my arm even matter? Why are you still trying to fight?! It’s over, Shader’s here, I’m sure she can help you and then we can—" 

Aion choked out a laugh in response. “Stubborn? I’m stubborn? What’s that human idiom? You’re a kettle calling…the…ink blot black.”

“Pot.” Chrono swallowed. “It’s a pot.”

“Ah. Of course you’d know. You spend too much time with humans.”

“Stop changing the subject, _brother._ ” Chrono put a heavy emphasis on the last word, probably because he knew it’d get a reaction out of Aion. Aion gave him a glare as he continued. “We’re getting out of here and Shader’s taking care of you.”

“You…can’t do that. You know that.”

“Don’t be stupid.”

“I’m dead weight. Eden’s gone. Shader can’t…”

Aion turned his head to watch Shader. Her image was blurred as his eyes struggled to maintain focus, but he could see that she was leaning against the doorway, her head bowed. She knew.

Chrono followed his gaze, swallowed, and shook his head. “No. No, don’t underestimate her—“

“Chrono.” He looked back up at Chrono with effort, his head feeling like it was 50 pounds heavier. “We…both knew…”

“What did you think you were going to accomplish?!” Chrono’s grip on his shoulder became tighter as his voice rose in volume. “Did you just come here to die? Do you get some sort of sick pleasure out of this?”

“If there was a chance, I had to try. You, too. We’re here…because we’re too alike.”

He didn’t mean for that to be a blow to Chrono, but when Chrono burst into tears Aion had to admit it must have stung more than he meant for it to. “Alike? If we’re alike then why can’t I understand? Why can’t I ever…you selfish, stupid…”

The floor beneath them rumbled. Pandaemonium wasn’t going to stay together for much longer. If Chrono kept hesitating, everything he’d fought for wouldn’t matter. He’d always been prone to losing sight of what was important. “You’re running out of time.”

There was no response from Chrono other than a few strangled sobs. Pathetic. As always, it was up to Aion to finish things…

“Brother.” That made Chrono’s head snap back up. Turnabout was fair play. “I need a favor.”

Chrono’s shoulders stiffened. “What do you think I’d ever do for—“

“End this.”

Chrono hesitated, staring straight into his eyes. “What?”

“I’m not…used to this. The pain.” That wasn’t a lie. It was getting harder to focus the longer this was going on. Demons weren’t meant to die this slowly. “It’s…boring. Heh.”

The realization was dawning on Chrono’s face. He shook his head, tears once again falling down his face.

“Want me to beg?”

“No. Don’t.”

“It’s now…or leave me.”

“I can’t.”

This wasn’t going to work. That idiot was going to let the ship crumble beneath them. Aion raised his voice as much as he could. “Shader. Go...the panel.”

He could hear the sound of soft, quick footsteps against metal and saw out of the corner of his eye a tail move past. Good, she knew what to do. She’d get Pandaemonium high enough so that Chrono would get his wish. He could keep his broken system, if he wanted. At least this whole fight wouldn’t have been pointless.

Chrono looked back and forth between Shader and Aion as the ship groaned and continued its push to thinner and thinner atmosphere. “Aion?”

“Low time. Told you. …Now…that favor.”

Chrono turned his head away to look at Shader again. “We’re taking him with us.”

Aion wasn’t able to see her, but he could tell Shader was still working on Pandaemonium’s controls. Her voice was terse and strained. He hadn’t heard her like this since he gave her Florette to work on. “He’s right. We’re going to be lucky to get off Pandaemonium ourselves." 

“Shader, no—“ 

“If I could, I would.” There was silence from Chrono and Shader for a moment, and when she spoke again her pitch was raised. “Please don’t ask me again.”

Chrono held Aion even tighter. Time seemed to move to a standstill. The edges of Aion’s vision were blurring even more. 

“Chrono.” Aion’s voice creaked as he spoke. “You’re…a…soldier. You can’t cry…” 

“…Over every little thing,” Chrono finished his thought. “Don’t care. I’ll do what I want.”

Aion chuckled. “Good…plan.”

Chrono hesitated for a moment longer, his head bowed, and then raised his right hand up in the air, curving his claws. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want this. I didn’t.”

Aion pulled together the last of his strength and reached out to Chrono’s chin, tilting it so that Chrono looked him in the eyes. “This time…for sure…nobody will confuse the two of us.”

Chrono drew in a sharp breath. His clawed hand shook in the air. Then Chrono took another breath and his hand steadied. He kept his gaze on Aion’s eyes, communicating all of his anger and pain, his regrets, and maybe even something like love. 

The last thing Aion saw was Chrono’s claws quickly flying down to stop his heart and Chrono’s face, still dripping with tears.


End file.
